March 19 GOP debate canceled due to lack of candidates

The remaining GOP debate scheduled for March 19 has been canceled since agreements could not be reached with the candidates over scheduling. It appears from the onset that Mitt Romney had little desire to participate in this debate and so far, only Newt Gingrich had committed to it. This debate was to be sponsored by Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Republican Party, and The Washington Times.

Report from Boston.com:

A scheduled Republican presidential debate in Oregon was cancelled today after the leading candidates declined to participate.

Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Republican Party, and The Washington Times announced that the March 19 debate in Portland will not take place. Oregon Republican Party Chairman Allen Alley said organizers “did everything we could to accommodate the candidates, including exploring change of dates and venues -- but in the end, we could not accommodate all of their schedules.”

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s campaign said on Monday that he would not participate, since Romney planned to be in Illinois in advance of that state’s March 20 primary. As of yesterday, only former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had committed to the debate. Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Oregon Public Broadcasting said organizers were still talking to former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Texas Representative Ron Paul. But Santorum has since declined to participate.

This would have been the last scheduled debate of the campaign season.

That appears to be all she wrote in terms of GOP primary debates. This was the last remaining possible event and this too has succumbed to a lack of candidate interest. Who can blame them after around 20 debates already under their belts?